1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to electro-optical devices, such as liquid crystal devices, and to electronic apparatuses including the electro-optical devices, such as liquid crystal projectors.
2. Related Art
In such an electro-optical device, an electro-optical material is held between a pair of an opposing substrate and an element substrate bonded with each other via a sealing member, as described, for example, in JP-A-10-253990. In a peripheral region located around a pixel region on the element substrate, for example, vertical-conduction terminals are provided at the four corners of the element substrate, and vertical-conduction members disposed in association with the vertical-conduction terminals and electrically connected to the vertical-conduction terminals are provided between the opposing substrate and the element substrate, whereby vertical electrical conduction between the pair of substrates is achieved.
Between the opposing substrate and the element substrate, the sealing member is provided in a sealing region provided in the peripheral region around the pixel region. Furthermore, between the opposing substrate and the element substrate, the sealing member is provided between the vertical-conduction terminals and vertical conduction members and the pixel region so as not to overlap the vertical-conduction terminals and vertical-conduction members at the corners of the pair of substrates.
However, in the electro-optical device described above, since vertical electrical conduction is provided locally in association with the vertical-conduction terminals between the opposing substrate and the element substrate, when errors from design occur in the configuration or layout of the vertical-conduction terminals and vertical-conduction members when the electro-optical device is manufactured, vertical conduction could be inadequate when the electro-optical device is driven. When inadequate vertical conduction occurs, the potential of an opposing electrode provided on the opposing substrate, opposing pixel electrodes provided for individual pixels on the element substrate, varies from a predetermined value. This causes display defects and therefore degradation of the quality of image display. Particularly, with the reduction in the size of the electro-optical device, such errors could occur more often during manufacturing, so that inadequate vertical conduction due to such errors could also occur more often.
Furthermore, when the resolution of the electro-optical device is to be improved while reducing the size thereof, it is needed to reduce the sizes of peripheral regions on the opposing substrate and the element substrate, so that it is needed to reduce space for the sealing region and the vertical-conduction terminals and vertical-conduction members. However, as described earlier, when the sealing member is disposed so as not to overlap the vertical-conduction terminals and vertical-conduction members, it is difficult to reduces the sizes of regions needed to dispose the sealing region and the vertical-conduction terminals and vertical-conduction members at the corners of the opposing substrate and the element substrate.